Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is a new Sly game and one of the most iconic franchises is making a return to the PS3.

The developers are not the same this time around, with Sanzaru games taking the helm over Sucker Punch, who developed the previous games in the series. The developers had also ported the previous Sly games to the PS3 and ended up having the contract to create a fully fledged Sly game.

The game released on February 5th 2013 in the US, and on March 27th, 2013 in the EU. No reason has been given for such a wide discrepancy between the release date in the two regions.

It is a stealth platforming game and you control variety of characters. The game was originally meant to be released in 2012 but was delayed. [reference]

The game supports the ‘cross buy functionality’ of Sony and if you buy the game on the PS3, you will get a free PS Vita copy. It saw released on the PS3 and PS Vita and was published by Sony.

Development

The previous Sly games were all made by Sucker Punch, developers of the Infamous series of games on the PS3. Sanazaru games who had ported the Sly games to the PS3 had enough experience with the system and also submitted a prototype to Sony, which was approved and a new game was green-lit.

The game is also coming to the PS Vita, however, it’s not clear whether there will be a 1 to 1 parity between the PS3 and Vita versions since very few to none are actually identical to their counterparts.

Sucker Punch had hinted about the game by placing Easter Eggs in the Infamous series of games, and while it was a vague hint, it made it clear that a new Sly game was coming. A teaser was also included in The Sly Collection and the game was announced at E3 2011 by Sony. [reference]

The Cross Buy is a new feature by Sony which was announced at Gamescom and only few specific games take advantage of this and one of them will be Sly Cooper Thieves in Time. What this means is if you buy a version you will get the other one for free for the similar price of a new game.

There’s plenty of interesting abilities to be had, from a bullet-time like freezing of time to reflecting projectiles back at enemies and controlling the direction of arrows as you fire them from a bow.

Perhaps the only downside is that we’ll be seeing Sucker Punch’s opus only in 2013, when it launches on February 5th. Nonetheless, even if one can’t stop the march of time, a Thievus Raccoonus can still pull off the crime. [reference]

The game also supports Stereoscopic 3D functionality. New villains are said to be there and older ones have been shown too. Sly Cooper is back and also some of his friends who have been described below.

Gameplay

The gameplay is your standard platformer where you control a character in third-person camera and is basically something that is made with sensitive movements in mind. It is a stleath game and a platformer at its core so you will be jumping, climbing and doing a lot of actions.

Various previews have confirmed that many of Sly’s abilities make a comeback, such as navigating poles and ropes, jumping across narrow platforms and stealing items from guards. There are new costumes in the game that gives Sly additional powers depending on the situation in the game.

There’s plenty of interesting abilities to be had, from a bullet-time like freezing of time to reflecting projectiles back at enemies and controlling the direction of arrows as you fire them from a bow. [reference]

The Vita version is said to control the same and it is not certain whether it will include additional touch-based functionalities at this point. The game will stay true to the core Sly formula as evident by the trailers released so far by Sanzaru Games.

Plot

Sly Cooper, together with his loyal friends Bentley and Murray, has just completed his latest heist when he is overcome by alleged amnesia and goes off with his female pal Carmelita, leaving Bentley as the keeper of the treasured Thievius Raccoonus, the Cooper family’s ancient book of master thievery.

Somebody is messing with members of Cooper clan in the past. There’s only one thing for it: the gang needs to hook up pronto and travel through time to unravel the mystery. [reference]

Characters

The game contains a variety of characters and these are all the revealed ones so far. Sony released a trailer for El-Jefe who is a villian pretty early after the game was announced and you can check out the trailer below. [reference]

Sly Cooper

The main character of the series. In this game he has both a red backpack and a brown legpack. He’s older, tougher, and more mature. He also has small cosmetic changes and additions, such as a goatee.

Bentley

Bentley returns as a playable character. He is the creator of the Time Machine. It has been confirmed that he is both in his attire from Sly 2: Band of Thieves and is still in a wheelchair.

Murray

Murray returns as a playable character. He was in the pro-racing circuit, but switched to demolition derby (due to his high insurance premiums), using theCooper Van. Mat Kraemer has confirmed that there will be racing mini-games, of which Murray will be starring. Murray now has a bright yellow racing stripe on the back of his mask, and he has been “buffed up” to help players get a sense of his enormous strength. He will also be more mature than in previous games.

Carmelita Fox

Carmelita is confirmed to return in the game; first by her reveal of character art, and then by a gameplay video of her. Her mechanics have been improved, as her pistol can now “lock on” to a specific target. Once the player beats the game, Carmelita will become a fully playable character, complete with her own storyline.